Indonesian Patrol Seizes Tin Ore Shipment

BANGKA, Jun. 10 -- Indonesia has seized a ship carrying 15 tonnes of illegal tin ore on its way to Malaysia from West Kalimantan in Indonesia, an Indonesian customs department spokesman told Reuters on Sunday. The ship was captured by a customs patrol in Indonesian waters near Natuna on Saturday and did not have a permit for the cargo, said Evy Suhartantyo, a spokesman for the customs department at the finance ministry.

Small-scale mining activity on Kalimantan increased last year, triggering the major crackdown on illegal mining by the authorities last August which spread into the main tin producing province of Bangka-Belitung.